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John Boehner set to slice up spending bills

The speaker-designate wants to 'do away with the concept' of comprehensive spending bills. |
Reuters
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Ideally, some Republicans argue, the budget for each department of the federal government would come to the floor as a unique bill produced by the Appropriations Committee. Lawmakers would amend it and then vote on the final product. So, instead of a single bill funding the Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education departments, those functions would be broken into three measures.

Another option would be to bring the bills to the floor in their current configurations but build procedural walls forcing lawmakers to consider the budgets for each department separately.

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"At minimum, we want departments separated," one Republican leadership aide told POLITICO. "Freestanding agencies will be worked out as we go."

Because the Democratic-controlled Senate is unlikely to follow suit in reorganizing the structure of its bills, conference negotiations between the two chambers could be severely complicated by the passage of individual House bills that don't match up well with Senate counterparts -- or the possible failure of one or more pieces of a traditional multi-department bill.

And some of the current spending bills deal more with functions or strings of seemingly unrelated agencies rather than just departments.

Moreover, the spending process has ground to a halt in recent years, victimized by battles fought on partisan, institutional and ideological lines. The Appropriatons Committee, once proud of its role in producing a dozen laws each year, failed to send a single spending bill to the president before the start of fiscal 2011 on Oct. 1. Critics are certain to seize on the committee's recent record to suggest that doubling or tripling the number of bills would make the process harder, not easier.

A House Democratic Appropriations aide did not respond for POLITICO's request for comment late Tuesday.

For those who have paid close attention to Boehner's words, this plan should come as no surprise.

It's one of several signs that Republicans are taking seriously their pledge to make significant changes to the legislative and administrative functions of the House. Incoming Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has discussed a massive overhaul to the House schedule -- including a halt to unsubstantive resolutions honoring various individuals and entities -- that could provide additional time for the consideration of a larger crop of spending bills. Republican leaders are also discussing significant cuts to Capitol Hill staff.

But the proposed structural changes to congressional budgeting represent the most significant overhaul that has surfaced since Republicans began their transition to power a few days after winning the majority. The system envisioned by Boehner and other Republican leaders would force lawmakers to make tough spending choices between programs in each department rather than allowing them to take money from one department and give it to another.

With Republicans in control of the House, Democrats' favorite departments, agencies and programs will likely be on the chopping block, setting up high-stakes clashes between congressional Republicans and the White House on virtually every function of government.

While it may take some House members by surprise, a Republican aide said Boehner has been making such promises clear to lawmakers in the run-up to the January start date of Congress.

Good luck with that, John. You guys can't even get an omnibus appropriations bill passed and now you want to break it up into 12 or 24 or 50 smaller bills on which you hope to reach agreement? Boehner and his boys will cut out social services that reach Americans who aren't millionaires and senate Democrats will rightly block them. How is this idea going to work? Or is it meant to work? Maybe it's nothing but more Republican political grandstanding and designed gridlock meant to stroke and stoke their base of Democrat demonizers. I believe Mitch McConnell unfortunately represents his party members; he and his party are not about creating jobs or eliminating the deficit or paying down the national debt or making us competitive worldwide in the lucrative green energy market or anything else good for our country. He and his party are all about gaining power at any cost. Their dangerous and groundless opposition to our START Treaty is only one case in point; they can't even vote for our national security anymore.

You must not read the articles before you post. The plan is to address each departments' budget individually like a business does. What is beneficial about this, is even though they didn't succeed in shutting down the earmark processes, they can totally eliminate the need for earmarks by looking at all earmark funding within the various department budgets and determining is they want to continue funding those items. Not all earmarks are 'pork' so legitimate programs can be folded into the initial budget as they are proven to be valid funding items.

The problem with the budget is that it never really gets a specific analysis publicly by the Congress. It is time to do that and hold the various deparments accountable. Sorry SEUI but your days of waste and largess are over.

You must not read the articles before you post. The plan is to address each departments' budget individually like a business does. What is beneficial about this, is even though they didn't succeed in shutting down the earmark processes, they can totally eliminate the need for earmarks by looking at all earmark funding within the various department budgets and determining is they want to continue funding those items. Not all earmarks are 'pork' so legitimate programs can be folded into the initial budget as they are proven to be valid funding items.

The problem with the budget is that it never really gets a specific analysis publicly by the Congress. It is time to do that and hold the various deparments accountable. Sorry SEUI but your days of waste and largess are over.

I thought the promise was Hope and Change; it has turned into Hoax and Chains

Boehner should be careful what he asks for. He might get it. All that lobbying money placed on record as part of floor debates and on the nightly news? Fine with me.

Little Johnny and his comrades might not like it though. Scrutiny isn't something he, his PACs or his fellow Republicans can stand up to. It'll take him down along with about 100 other Republicans. And I hope it takes the 75 or so Democrats, who like there little favors, down too.

Harry Truman had it about right "If you come out of political office richer than you went in, you're a crook."

Once again, Boehner should be careful what he asks for. He might get it.

One would think John Boehner would have some clue as to where cuts are to be made. He has been in office since 1991. You would think ending the Afghan and Iraq wars and bringing all the troops out would be the first money saver. Cuts in the DOD budget need to be made. We should cut all military and economic aid to Israel, lets save that money. Down the gov and audit all the agencies for fraud, waste and abuse.

John needs to shut off the money printing press, shut down agencies that are not working, cut spending, down the bulging Federal employment., cut duplicate services. This would be a start - we have to do something to slow the ridiculous spending and programs we do not want or need.

"Let's do away with the concept of 'comprehensive' spending bills. Let's break them up, to encourage scrutiny, and make spending cuts easier. Rather than pairing agencies and departments together, let them come to the House floor individually, to be judged on their own merit," he said at AEI more than a month before the midterm election.

In this case cutting spending/waste/excess via taking government agencies on a case by case basis instead of issuing a blanket check up front. Pay for performance and prove it way of funding.

That alone should force some cutbacks immediately.

The orange man already is improving the path while the botox'd old lady spent the last 3 years issuing blank checks for her historical legacy and she still clings to it like a spider clings to it's web.

This is a great idea..... real leadership...... cuts must be made, let every agency come to the hill and defend its budget requests...... this will allow the house to make meaningful cuts by getting rid of wasteful programs....

Apparently this 92-year-old W.W.II Disabled Vet (Member of Kearby's Thunderbolts; www.PacificWrecks.com) and his 89-year-old wife's..(who share two Purple Hearts and one burial flag)...warm and still-breathing bodies are for sale here in Massachusetts and nationwide.

Why wasn't their retirement income of $70K/yr (minus the Medicare D and BX premiums, $5,500, still required to be paid by them) enough for the nonprofit from the day of their admissions on 01/11/07?..

..because of the feeding frenzy created by the GOP's (Cheney/Gregg) DRA 2005 to tax the otherwise untaxable inheritable savings at $600/day required of the nonprofit nursing home, the greed and unlawful arrogance of nonprofit CFO's/attorney's with their nonprofit software manufactured by www.nonprofitshellgamebalancesheet.com, backed up by judges ruling that no one can question the nonprofit's morphing balance sheets even with a POA, VA Fiduciary and Personal Care Contracts,...causing my parents to pay double ($450K) in unreimbursed medical expenses since Jan. 11, 2007

I'm a progressive but think that this is one of the better ideas I've heard come from Washington in a long time. Done properly money will be saved.

The one thing I would urge Congressman Boehner to add to this proposal is strict time requirements for passing these bills from the house including one that congress will not adjourn for vacations or long weekends till these bills are passed.